Sucker Punched
by OwlheadAthena
Summary: 'It was times like these Wally was glad Artemis was on HIS side. Then he saw her eyes.' In which a new side of Artemis is introduced, a side even more violent and over-protective: Tigress. Rated High K  for mild swearing. REWRITTEN.


**Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the new and improved…**

**SUCKER PUNCHED.**

**Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh yeah B)**

**Disclaimer: Nope. I own nothing, because I'm a noob- **_**Wait.**_

…

Wally West, A.K.A Kid Flash, carefully placed his hand against the smooth round surface of his cage, then drew it back quickly when it gave a high voltage shock. He winced a little from the pain, before cursing underneath his breath and looked at his other fellow teammates. All of them, minus one, were also stuck inside their own little stupid jails

Said prisons, Wally grudgingly admitted, were brilliant in design and holding capacity. They were hovering hollow sphere balls that were easy to get into, but impossible to get out. Unless you have the key or clearance, of course.

Which –obviously- they didn't.

Superboy, who was on Wally's right, charged at the wall of his cage at full speed, ramming into it with the force of a tank being driven by a gorilla(Or Batman. Either one). It didn't even flinch, and stood stoic as Superboy was rebounded and sailed across his prison, landing on the floor. His Superman shirt was ripped in several places, from both the electricity of the walls that were holding him, and because of the fire that had only narrowly escaped minutes before.

The boom that followed Superboy's attempt at quarter-backing (in a way) made a loud sound, like a clap of thunder, that vibrated and resounded around them all because of the metal cave they were currently trapped in.

To Wally's left, M'Gann didn't even look up at the noise, instead choosing to huddle in the corner (If sphere's can have corners) of her cage, face buried in her knees, shoulders shaking violently from the sobs that wracked her body. Wally desperately wanted to reach out, as did the others from the look of it, but the memory of a snarky blonde archer kept Wally from even _looking _in the direction of the Martian.

Robin, directly across from Wally, had a dazed a blank look on his face, as if he still hadn't fully grasped the situation, assessing it from all angles, trying to figure out where they went wrong. (Or maybe he was just hiding his emotions, and secretly coming up with a plan to save them like the awesome ninja Wally was convinced he was.) But Rob also looked a bit shell-shocked, as in that he couldn't completely accept what had just _happened _to him. To them all, as a team…

The Boy Wonder leaned against the smooth surface of his cage, and ignoring the electricity, let his feet slide out from under him so he slid gently onto his back. The young teen simply lay there, eyes closed, mouth twisted in a way that suggested he was holding back tears, or to prevent himself from screaming. Though Wally couldn't tell, Robin was repeating one line over and over in his head: _This is the third time I've lost someone… The third time I've lost someone… The third time _

M'Gann, being the telepathic she was, obviously sensed Robin's torn and distraught emotions, and then his thoughts, but she chose to not exactly _ignore_ them, she just wasn't going to do anything about them. At least not anytime soon.

To Robins right sat Aqualad, who was currently in his 'meditation zone.' It clearly wasn't working, however, judging by the angry opening and clasping into fists that Aqualad's hands were doing. Besides Wally, Aqualad was probably suffering the most, putting the blame on himself, since he was their freaking _leader. _He was supposed to make sure the mission followed through, and that nobody was hurt or seriously injured. Judging by the empty sphere cage next to the Atlantian, this obviously hadn't happened.

The last cage had been for the only teammate who wasn't with them: Artemis. Wally's eyes stung a little as he remembered the archer's sacrifice to get them here, and how she had died for nothing as they sat here, waiting to die themselves.

…

_She had been the first to sense the bomb. Wally still didn't know _how _exactly she did that, but she did._

_"GO!" Artemis yelled, and pushed them forward. As if to prove her point, the hallway behind them exploded, and no one argued with her. The all ran, and at points stumbled, down the hallway corridors as the walls behind them exploded, sending dust and debris everywhere and temporarily blinding them. As they turned a corner, the team's leader suddenly stopped as he saw something that could buy his team some time.  
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_"Superboy!" Aqualad shouted, gesturing frantically to the steel door next to them. Together, they dragged the door out and managed to clog the hallway. Within moments, the explosions had caught up to them, and the door slightly buckled._

_"Someone needs to hold the door!" Robin said._

_Everyone fell silent, before Artemis spoke up. "I will."_

_"WHAT?" Wally said, eyes wide. "But, you'll DIE Artemis." The ginger ignored the sound of another explosion, entirely focused on the archer in front of him. He couldn't lose her again. **(1)**_

_Kaldur stepped forward. "Artemis, as team leader I can not allow you to undertake such a sacrifice-"  
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_"I know." Artemis interrupted. "But you don't understand. They can't hurt me anymore." Artemis' eyes were wide and earnest. "Please." She said quietly, looking directly at Wally. "We don't have much more time."_

_The door buckled again, but Artemis kept the door shut still. "Go. Tell my mom that I'm sorry."_

_Everyone looked at her solemnly, then nodded. "We will never forget you." Kaldur murmured quietly, then the team turned around and sped onward down the corridor._

_"Wait!" Artemis called after them, as the ceiling overhead shook. The team immediately turned around, and Wally hoped with all his heart that she had decided to _not _sacrifice herself, to come with them. His hopes were quickly dashed when he saw her still stay put against the door. "Tell..." The girl moistened her lips. "Tell Ollie thanks. For everything."_

_The door buckled again, this time leaving dents._

_"GO!" The blonde archer screamed, and Young Justice turned and fled down the hallway again.  
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_They had reached the end of the hallway and gotten through the door leading to the main room when the world behind them exploded in this horrifyingly beautiful display of colors.  
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…

**(1) Reference to Failsafe, where Artemis 'died'.  
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**Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the NEW and IMPROVED version of Sucker Punched!  
>(Chapter 1 revised on 810/11 Yeah, I've had this ready for a _while._)**

**REVIEW! (Or PM me X3)**

~OHA


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